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--- Fan Fic Issues and a Possible Solution (http://www.gatchamania.net/threadid.php?threadid=4992)
Posted by msannomalley on 15-12-2015 at 17:17:
Fan Fic Issues and a Possible Solution
Given all the issues with Gatchfanfic.com over the past year, I had an idea and I wanted to put it out here to get your opinions on it.
I am seriously considering starting up a site for us to post fan fic. I know that there are limitations with the other sites that other people aren't happy about. For example, I can't post episode reviews at FF.net because they're not allowed. I'm also not too crazy about how FF.net doesn't have it's own category for all the Crowds fic, either. Other places don't allow images, which is another concern. Other sites don't have the community that we have here. Some people are concerned with content on other sites. All of these are valid concerns.
I have some experience in maintaining a website. My husband has website space he already pays for. It’s on a host and not self-hosted, so if there were to be server issues, the host would fix it. I’m pretty certain that Gatchfanfic is self-hosted, and if it is, that’s probably why it’s taking so long for things to get fixed. My husband said he’d be willing to let me have some of it to create a space to post fan fic.
What I propose is this:
I know what program that Gatchfanfic uses—it’s a CMS called efiction. If I were to do this, I would use that, since we’re all familiar with it. I’m fairly certain that Julieann has modified her version of the program and hasn’t updated it to the latest version, which could also be why there are so many problems with it.
Here’s a demo of what it looks like: http://demo.efiction.org/
There are more skins out there than what is on that site. The creators of the program do have a forum for issues, too.
Where this would differ is that there would be no forum or fan art gallery. For now, it would just be a place to post fan fic. I know that the program itself has a lot of customization to it, but until I download it and look at it, I don't know everything it does.
I just finished the fall semester and I don’t start back up with school again until January 11, so the next three or four weeks would be the time to get this set up if this is something that people think would be a good idea. All I would have to do is get a domain name for it, which isn't a big deal.
Let me know your thoughts on this. Is this a good idea? Would you use it? If you think it’s a good idea, are there features you’d like to see that aren’t on other sites (provided this program has the capability to do those things)? Ideas for a domain name?
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Il mio aliscafo è pieno di anguille
Posted by KT1972 on 15-12-2015 at 17:54:
yeah, I'd post here, as long as it is restricted to Gatch/BotP ect and crossovers featuring the same.
I would be interested to know what restrictions, if any, you propose to add, will smut be allowed, and if so, would minors be prevented from accessing it? Ditto yaoi etc.
As for potential names, could I suggest we keep it simple and to the point? Along the lines of "Gatchaman fiction site" or similar.
Thanks for proposing the idea, MsAnn, I'm sure a lot of fans will appreciate it.
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Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope. - HELEN KELLER
Posted by Springie on 15-12-2015 at 18:35:
That's a nice idea...it would be so sad if something happened to all of those glorious fics over at Gatchfanfic. So no fan art...but it would allow pictures to be placed into fics, correct? I have tons of fics with pics embedded, so that would be nice...
It might take me a while to migrate things over there...but I'd use it for sure!
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Posted by ElectricWhite on 15-12-2015 at 21:55:
Like Springie, it would take some time for me to get things transferred over (not to mention how it`s going to take for me to get anywhere near the writing level I was at before charcot...)
Anyway, I think it`s a good idea, especially since we all seem to have a need to occasionally post stonger fanfic than most other sites allow.
Hats off to you, msann, 
for your willingness to take this on!
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“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them." --Ray Bradbury
Posted by msannomalley on 15-12-2015 at 22:46:
I was poking around other sites that use this same program and I started making out a list of things I want or want to look into doing, if I do this. One of them is to have something in the author profiles where people could add their social media accounts, Deviant Art accounts or even the other places they post stories, like FF.net.
KT: Smut would be allowed, but it would have to be rated Mature or Adult. I would want to try and set things up like Gatchfanfic where you have to be a registered user in order to read those stories.
Springie: I'm not going to rule out ever adding fan art to it. If there is enough interest in a fan art gallery, I'd consider it. I definitely want to make it so people can embed pictures.
EW: My thing in all of this is the sense of community, even though there isn't much of a community at the site itself (because we're over here), we're still a community and that is something I would miss. It's going to take me awhile to migrate things over, too. 
Thanks for the feedback!
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Il mio aliscafo è pieno di anguille
Posted by Transmute Jun on 16-12-2015 at 00:17:
I would certainly be interested in having another, reliable site! I know Julieann is having personal issues,but this has been going on for years. It would appear that the site is not getting better.
As EW said, it would take some time to migrate fics, but it is better to do this when the gatchfanfic site is still readable.
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Posted by ChrisW on 16-12-2015 at 00:42:
Would you be able to maintain the site over time? Or do you see this as a stopgap measure for the moment?
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Eagle Whisperer
Posted by amethyst on 16-12-2015 at 09:05:
Efiction is easy to navigate as a user and an admin. It is fairly easy to upgrade if upgraded regularly. The issues crop up when efiction sites, like GFF are modified and not compatible with efiction updates, there I are too many updates skipped to make them possible, or the story load is too high to make updates/transfers realistic (Ashwinder/Sycophant Hex in the HP fandom had this issue).
The biggest issue to consider is moderation/administration. Will each and every story go up when posted? Will authors need to be validated, with unknown authors needing story approval before posting? If stories need to be approved, how many admin/mods do you want to ensure stories get put up in a timely manner. As a former admin for SH, I recommend validating known authors, but making unknown authors wait for approval until it is known that they aren't a bot, a troll, or just untrustworthy.
What type of standards do you want? GFF was fairly loose with mods just making sure you didn't post anything offensive or illegal. SH was more restrictive with Both grammar and story standards, it wanted a place for a higher level of fanfic than the dribble that is often found and hides the good works at ff.net or AFF.
Archive of Our Own is another possibility for posting, but IMHO, it is harder to read, harder to find the story you want, and it has the same Crowds issue as ff.net or AFF, Crowds stories are mixed in with all the Gatch/BotP. As both a reader and a writer, I prefer efiction based archives.
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Perspective Alters Reality
Posted by msannomalley on 16-12-2015 at 14:46:
Originally, I thought about doing this as a temporary thing, but now, I'm thinking it would be permanent. I don't think the issues at GFF are going to get any better.
As far as moderation goes, I'm still mulling this over. I don't want to be heavy-handed, but on the other hand, I don't want people posting crap or spam. The trusted author thing is a good idea. People who have already posted a lot at GFF would not have to go through a trusted author thing because I already "trust" you.
I know there is a lot to think about with this and I have been thinking about it.
As soon as I get the domain name and get it pointed to the right place, I'm going to start setting things up.
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Il mio aliscafo è pieno di anguille
Posted by msannomalley on 16-12-2015 at 20:33:
I have a domain and a site. Since this is a small group, I'm going to post the URL so if anyone wants to, they can create an account and upload stories.
http://crescentcorallibrary.com/
If you run into problems, please let me know. I'm still trying to figure out how this program works from the admin perspective and your help is appreciated!
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Il mio aliscafo è pieno di anguille
Posted by ElectricWhite on 17-12-2015 at 03:35:
I really appreciate you doing this, msann! 
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“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them." --Ray Bradbury
Posted by msannomalley on 17-12-2015 at 04:37:
Aw, thanks EW.
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Il mio aliscafo è pieno di anguille
Posted by ChrisW on 17-12-2015 at 05:36:
Woohoo.
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Eagle Whisperer
Posted by Transmute Jun on 17-12-2015 at 17:51:
Looks great! Hopefully I'll have some time to check it out on the weekend.
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Posted by KT1972 on 17-12-2015 at 18:43:
Just uploaded 'Love on the God Phoenix' to the site, and wanted to let everyone know the files have to be txt format still, also Copy and pasting into the textfield didn't work.
Nevertheless, I was able to edit and format the text once it was uploaded.
These are just minor niggles really, of course I'm still waiting for validation, since I'm a new member 
but that doesn't worry me.
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Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope. - HELEN KELLER
Posted by msannomalley on 17-12-2015 at 19:05:
KT: Do you have the TinyMCE checked? If you do, you should get all the formatting buttons and the paste from Word and Paste text clipboards.
You're validated and I approved the story.
It posted and everything looks good.
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Il mio aliscafo è pieno di anguille
Posted by KT1972 on 17-12-2015 at 20:18:
Thanks, I will add more stories in due course
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Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope. - HELEN KELLER
Posted by E.D. Darling on 18-12-2015 at 00:21:
I tried but it says the site is undergoing maintenance?
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Dang it!
Posted by KT1972 on 18-12-2015 at 00:24:
Keep trying, it is up and running, honest.
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Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope. - HELEN KELLER
Posted by msannomalley on 18-12-2015 at 00:38:
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I turned it off. Maybe its a browser issue? Try emptying your cache.
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Il mio aliscafo è pieno di anguille
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